Shalissa brings 5 golds and hands it to pay for the preparations "Well done!"
The elf collects some plants from the lake and other reagents for her magic and gives herself as prepared.
She will use her channels to finish healing everyone.
The next morning, it feels like the expedition is really starting in earnest. Everyone seems to prepare a little extra, knowing they are heading into the jungle now. Neethan does his morning routine, trying to memorize the spells he thinks will be handy, as well as making sure his waterskin is full. His clothes are dry again. The water from the lake rinsed them from some of the sweat stains, but there is still a smell from them. It seems like you are never clean out here. Sometimes he misses the city and the comfort of his parents’ home. A civilized bath and getting scrubbed. Well, this is what he chose instead. He adjusts his clothing; not so much it will get too hot but covering his legs and arms as best he can from the various insects and sharp-edged plants.
Neethan wonders what other teams might also be going. Have they lost too much time already to their competitors?
From the village a small trading path leads you along the southern bank of the Korir river.
As you cross the river to get the southern bank you notice a large bird flying over the lake and suddenly plummeting down into the water.
Somehow this view leaves you with a very uneasy feeling, until you remeber where you have seen this before.
Suddenly the sight of Dimorphodons diving down on you from the sky back at the Shiv stands before your eye again.
After examining it some more time you are sure that this is a dimorphodon hunting fish in the lake. But you are also sure, that these flying beast require cliff faces to nest none of which can be found in this region.
You wonder
Neethan tries to look where he puts his feet and also looks out for possible danger. He keeps to the middle of the group.
Walking in the lead, Davor is more observant than Neethan, but the wizard at least has some local knowledge of the nature here. The sight of the hunting bird does not frighten him, and he believes they will be ok if they keep walking under the trees.
Neethan is more worried about the direction though. The south bank of the river will get them dangerously close to the Mzali, and if the going here is easier, it might be that their war bands are the ones making the paths. He wonders if they have to crisscross up the river to find the way easiest to travel. He goes looking for their guide, to ask if they are on the right path, compared to staying on the north bank. While encountering men from the Rivermen’s Guild is risky sometimes, they are better than the Mzalis any day of the week.
"I think you are right Neethan. We better hold ourselves below cover. We had not good experience with those ones in the Shiv" Shalissa follows along the party, proposing to avoid the southern bank "Tazion seems to be on the northern bank anyway "
Davor continually scans the area and the sky. The flying reptile does not hold fond memories for him.
"That thing doesn't belong here." He glances to Shalissa with the reminder of their target. "Keeping in cover will slow us, but also give us a better chance to avoid danger. I think we should focus on the safer passage."
Things become suddenly clear to Shalissa " That dinosaur does not belong here. I only know one person crazy enough to bring such a thing into the jungle. Sasha Nevah!"
"I lost track of her when we landed at port. Maybe she heard something about our discoveries and brought up another expedition to find Saventh-Yhi?"
Neethan has an inherent distrust for guides, having been abandoned by at least two. He was not with the team when they found this Nkechi character either. Seems they have to gamble in order not to lose more time, but they need to head north soon. He does not want to go anywhere near Mzali. He agrees to tread along to the river juncture though.
Then Shalissa has an outburst, and Neethan asks: ”Who’s Sasha?”
Shalissa frowns thinking a bit more on the girl and looks to answer Neethan "She is one of the girls that crashed at the Shiv with Davor and Kerndrew. She loves dinomorphons and knows about woodworks. She... she had a strange sign on her back..." the elven looks uneasy at this point "The sign of the Red Mantis... I never commented this with you before because I did not want to scare you, but those are the most terrible assassins in the Inner Sea, grown since they are babies to kill people for gold, they revere a strange god which is... a red mantis..."
"The girl always had something strange to me... but I never had the chance to learn more about her connection with the faction..." she looks at the other companions at this point "You were with her in the ship and the first days in the island... perhaps you can fill in more detail about her"
Davor shakes his head with a grim look on his face. "She didn't really open up much. Once she felt.... comfortable with us she did teach a little about a Mantis technique to respond faster to events."
"But, like the others she was pretty quick to leave us once we got back from the Shiv. I'm guessing that she's leading the Mantis group that is racing us. I hope we don't have to face her, or them in a fight. She won't hold back so we can't either. It will be kill or die trying!"
Shalissa looks worried but makes a dismissive gesture "Whatever. We need to continue our path. Father Sky will bring us news of her if you are right, and then we will have to take decisions, but not earlier"
Unless someone has anything else to add, the elf will resume walking, through the southern side of the river as they were going, or through the north one if they find a good place to cross the river.
She will follow Tempest's advise on the better path, after all, that is why they brought the druid, to keep the expedition safe and on good track.
Neethan takes in the new info about another possible player in the race.
He has heard some bad stories about them, so he’s not happy about the revelation. He shrugs though. It’s going to be tough anyway, and the other parties will have to face difficulties here in the jungle too.
He keeps going silently, pondering the facts.
"We have been dealing with danger well this far" Shalissa says considering the possibilities and poses his preference "Knowing the Mantis might be already before us, I say we do not lose time and try to go ahead of them"
"I'm slow enough as it is; we might as well gain the time we can while we can. I too vote for the quicker route."
Being from Sargava, Neethan likely knows more about the mad Mzalis than the other team members. The wizard is a Chelixian colonist; someone the Mzalis would really like to catch and play with. He’d prefer to negotiate with pirates any day instead, but it seems the others have already made up their minds. Neethan is not happy, but rather gets even more cautious, keeping to the rear of the team.
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"I'd rather meet up with a group of Mzalis than a team of assassins. We'd be fighting through their traps until they felt sure they could sweep in and kill us all. But maybe we'll get lucky and sneak through without trouble...."
Following the river you make sure to akways have an eye on your surroundings watching for any signs of the Mzali.
After a full day of travel you are approaching the junction of the two rivers and start looking for a place to spend the night, when Davor notices sign of pursuit. A few leaves moving on a bush on the other side of a clearing. A flock of monkey screeching at something you can't see. You are sure there is soomeone following you.
Completely blinded by the warmth of the jungle, Shalissa looks astray at the leaves "Its just some leaves and a monkey screech Davor. I know the place is unnerving, but it is nothing more"
Still, the elf looks around nervously and readies her trident to fight "Let's keep going"
CL 5 (+1 evocation, +2 with scrolls and symbols), Concentration +10 (+1 evocation; 3 Wis, 5 CL, 2 Jask mantra’s), Spell Penetration +7 (+1 evocation; 5 CL, 2 racial)
Orisons
light
detect magic
divine guidance
create water
dancing lights 3/3 (Varisian Tattoo)
Level 1 (5/day)
shocking grasp^
bless
liberating command
obscuring mist
shield of faith
Level 2 (4/day)
flame blade (electrical version)^
silence (Will 17)
sound burst (Fort 17)
summon monster II
Level 3 (3/day)
lightning bolt (Ref 18)^
vision of hell (Will 17)
summon monster III
Neethan hears the monkeys are restless. He knows they sometimes fight among themselves, but they are also territorial and will announce intruders. In the dense jungle, it’s hard to see. The whole thing gives him a creepy feeling, especially since it’s getting dark soon. He’s both jumpy and a bit on edge. When the others also seem to hesitate and listen even more carefully, Neethan casts Mage Armor on himself.
"I think you might be jumping at nothing, Davor, but your eyes have proven keener than mine in the past. If you really think someone's following us, we should investigate. Better a known unknown than an unknown known, I always say."
"Wind can moves leaves and we might not feel the breeze here, and the monkeys could have been screeching at a snake of something. But I'm almost certain that we are being followed. I'd rather identify them in daylight. As stealthy as they are now, they could be near invisible in the dark."
"Perhaps the others should take cover while Father Kerndrew and I stand in the open, trying a friendly invite to talk?"
Neethan nods in agreement. Whatever it is, it’s better to find out now, than in the dark. It’s going to be hard to get any rest anyway with the monkeys making that noise. The wizard doesn’t mind taking cover, but if possible, he stays close to the paladin while doing so.
Shalissa resigns herself and follows the others "Ok, but I am not leaving you alone. I will be close by in case things get complicated "
The elf will try to keep hidden 30 feet behind Davor.
Neethan and Davor stand waiting in the jungle, hoping their pursuers take the invitation to approach. Unfortunately the jungle stays silent and even davor begins to wonder whether he imagined the signs of pursuit.
Davor turns towards Shalissa and Nethan when he spots two of indigenous warriors approaching Shalissa and Neethan from behind, their shortbows at the ready.
Davor turns slightly to Father Kerndrew, and signals two visible individuals approaching. He calls out, "Welcome. We seek a peaceful resolution. We are only passing through and do not want a fight."
Trying to keep hidden, Neethan spies on the natives wondering if they are (relatively) friendly Zenjis or the fearsome Mzalis. If they are Zenjis, they might just be a couple of hunters looking for prey, but if Mzalis, then it’s likely a whole warband close by. He does not like this at all.
Shalissa tries to hide below the low canopy, but when Davor and Neethan call her attention to the two indigenous people approaching, she is quick to ready herself and casts bless upon the group.
To his dismay, Neethan recognizes the natives as Mzalis, and realizes there’s no point in trying to negotiate with these. Running away is likely not going to work either as these tribesmen know the jungle and can move faster than they can. Since Davor has already addressed them, it’s also too late to hide. The wizard just hopes they can survive this fight if the warband is not too large. He can spot a couple of them coming his way and casts a Fireball, hoping to scare them away.
Neethan then backs away some.
Casting Fireball, trying to catch more warriors not yet seen.
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half, Spell DC = 18; Spell Resistance yes
, fire damage incl Intense spells
Move I6 -> J9
Mage Armor activated.
HP 37/37 | AC 16, TAC 12 with Mage Armor
Father Kerndrew darts through the underbrush to put himself between the Mzali and the rest of the party, should they survive the fireball.
The blast of the Fireball catches 3 Warriors in it's blast but two off them manage to duck behind some trees to avoid the worst of the blast.
Davor moves up with Father Kerndrew. He hadn't wanted a fight but obviously Neethan was certain that these warriors wouldn't give them any option. With a quick word he casts a spell to protect himself.
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Finding themselves under attack the Mzali raise their short bows and rain a deadly barrage of arrows onto the party, before slowly retreating to keep a distance between them and Father Kerndrew. Davor manages to duck behind a nearby tree but all the other arrows find their mark. Kerndrew and Neethan find the magic imbuing the arrow poinbts leaving especially painful wounds.
Neethan thought he had ducked behind cover well enough, but an arrow finds him anyway. Well, they can try hide from his revenge!
With a few gestures with his hand, the world around the Mzalis is filled with swirling stones from which there is no hiding.
”Manducare lutum!”
Casting Stone Call
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area cylinder (40-ft. radius, 20 ft. high)
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
, bludgeoning damage, to every creature in the area
This damage only occurs once, when the spell is cast.
For the remaining duration of the spell, this debris covers the ground, making the entire area difficult terrain. At the end of the duration, the rocks disappear, leaving no aftereffects (other than the damage dealt).
R2,R3,R4,R5, R6: Difficult Terrain
Reeling from the absolutely brutal arrow assault from just a few arrows, Father Kerndrew takes advantage of the challenge presented by Neethan's spell and retreats. He heals himself instinctively, then takes up a purely defensive position, waiting their attackers out.
Davor ducks down and stays low, taking advantage of the brush for cover and moves away from the natives. Let them come forward or run....
"Ouch!" Shalissa shouts with terrible damage inflicted.
Seeing the others trying to retreat, the priestess intones words of power "Father of Sky, cover our retreat!"
As she finishes, a dense fog appears around her as per obscuring mist, and then she starts running back after Davor and Kerndrew.
The Mzali use the confusion and the fog to retreat further into the jungle.
"Neethan back!" Shalissa calls out the wizard while she looks for Davor and Kerndrew, trying to retreat to a safer position and reorganize.
While the group finds each other, she raises her holy symbol "Is everyone ok?"
The elf measures the resolve of the team "We were surprised there. What do you want to do now? We pursue them? Maybe Neethan's magic convinced them enough to let us be and pass unmolested."
Neethan senses that the Mzalis are breaking contact. When his allies seem content to not chase after them, Neethan moves closer to Shalissa and thanks her for the healing. The air is still full of noises from the agitated birds and monkeys that have survived Neethan’s onslaught.
"I worry that chasing them away like this only brings a larger attack party in response. But there's nothing we can do about that now; the magic on those arrows was brutal." He looks around and listens to the sounds of the forest.
"Let's take a few moments to regroup; if they don't immediately reappear, we'd best get to bed, but with a vigilant watch. I'm happy to go first."
"I agree. I'd prefer not to face another barrage of their arrows, but maybe since they didn't take any of us down they won't know how much any of us really were hurt. The magic attacks drove them off. Maybe they'll decide to leave us alone so we'll go away.... But you are right. A vigilant watch, and those of us that can see in the dark to cover the darkest hours. Tomorrow morning we can leave as quickly as we can move."
"I'm going to settle down over there, watch and listen."
Davor moves into the woods about 20' in the direction that the Mzali left, settling down to wait, watch and listen for a half hour.
"Alright, let's let them be. I agree on the watches, we must be extra vigilant tonight" Shalissa comments nodding and making some silence gesture to her chicken Chivito "But let's move the campfire a few miles forward, I think they will understand that gesture as we do not want to bother them and we are just passing by."
"I know we are tired, but it is going to be safer than just resting here, which might provoke more attacks as they try to bring us away from their territory"
Assuming the group agrees, Shalissa directs the pirates to pick up the packs and move forward some miles to settle camp a bit farther away.
Luckily, Neethan is a little better trained than the ordinary scholar and agrees to move further before taking a rest. His added protection from the Mage Armor spell will still be effective for a few hours more, but there is a lot of natural hazards and obstacles to tackle while walking in the jungle at dusk, even without Mzalis harassing them. He keeps vigilant.
Davor agrees with Shalissa's wisdom.